Hello from Cape Town!

How do I even begin to describe South Africa?? There are no words that could ever possibly do our experience here justice. South Africa is by far our favorite port so far, and we really wish we weren't leaving! Especially since the Captain came on and told us we were going to be delayed leaving port because of high waves. This sort of frightens me because they have to be bigger than last time for us to be delayed, and I'm not too excited. I secured the cabin and made sure everything was put away. This time, they told us the ship would rock as much as last time, if not more, from now until we reach Mauritius in 4 days. Ruh-roh! Not just 15 minutes like last time....we're talking about DAYS with it like that. And we have our first global studies test on Tuesday, so this should be interesting!

Anyway, back to Cape Town! I have no idea how I'm going to convey to you just how amazing the past 5 days have been, but I'm gonna try. This might be a little long, so bear with me. We arrived Wednesday, and instead of pulling into port at 0800, we got here at about 10 because of heavy fog. Then we had a diplomatic briefing in the union and had lunch on the ship. Then we finally got to get off, and we went exploring the waterfront. It was beautiful! We were docked literally next to a mall along the waterfront, so unlike Casablanca and Namibia which were both very industrial, we walked off the ship into a tourist's paradise. The mall was huge and had restaurants along the dock outside all the way into the middle of the shopping area. We looked around and walked all over the area, basically doing nothing, because we were waiting for Stephanie and Victoria to get done with an FDP that was being held on the ship. At about 1300 when they finished, we went to have lunch at the mall. We found a cute 50's-looking diner and ate chicken fingers (surprised? haha), and then for dessert had the most delicious thing-waffles with gelato on top. It was sooo good! Here we also heard some songs that were American- some we recognized and some we didn't. It's weird that we hadn't known the newer songs because we've been gone for more than a month. Anyway, we had bought tickets to go to Robben Island at 1500, so we headed over to the ferry and as soon as we got on, we regretted it...we had just gotten off of the ship and now we were getting on a boat....what were we thinking? It was okay, though. During the 30-minute ride to the island, they played a movie about the history of it and about why they turned it into a museum. If you don't know what Robben Island is, it's basically an island for prisoners. During Apartheid, the South African government sent all of the political leaders (one of whom was Nelson Mandela) who disagreed with the policies and laws, and also a lot of regular criminals were sent there as well. Before it was a prison, in the middle-to-late 1800's, it was a place where anyone who had Leprosy was sent to live in exile. It was a very interesting visit. We got off the ferry and got on a tour bus that took us around the whole island, showing us the quarry where the prisoners worked, the prisons, and we even saw some of the 15,000 penguins that live there! Interesting fact: all of the tour guides on Robben Island were once prisoners there themselves. So they intertwined personal stories with the tour and it was so great to hear their perspective. After the driving tour, we saw the prison, and go inside the community cell and see the cell that Nelson Mandela spent 17 years in. It was intense, and I really learned a lot. Someone we talked to from South Africa said, "Oh- you must know a lot about Apartheid, right? Because they teach it to you in school..." and we said, "No, actually we never learned exactly what it was". I found that very interesting that I never noticed before, but we didn't really learn a whole lot about it- ever. It's become one of our favorite things to do on this trip- to compare America, our life, our education, our culture, to everything that I'm seeing and learning from an outside perspective. Well, we napped on the ferry ride back, and we went back to the ship, got dressed up, and went out to dinner with Blair, Stephanie, Victoria, Pat, and Britton. We went to Long Street since one of our inter-port students said the nightlife was good, and we picked out a restaurant called Royale Eatery. We had some really good food and the most amazing drinks.

Okay, I want to pause for a second and talk about something we've been having a lot of conversations about on the ship. Drinking...and America's take on it. As soon as we got to the Bahamas, we were able to drink anything we wanted. On the ship, we can have alcohol, and in every port, we've had free reign to drink whatever. For some people...and this is what bothers me...this means getting wasted every chance they get. For example, in Namibia apparently, there were some students who got so rowdy at a bar that the owner called Captain Jeremy, and another group of students got kicked out of their hotel. This is what makes me mad at the United States. If you deny a kid candy, they're just going to want it more. If you tell America's youth that they can't drink- they're just going to find a way to do it- and do a lot of it! In all the ports we've been to so far, we've talked to the local people, and they've said they don't have a big alcohol problem, which doesn't surprise me. America has gotten this "taboo" attitude about drinking, so now young people usually only drink to get drunk and have completely forgotten the concept of social-drinking. It's been so nice in Cape Town- and everywhere we've been- to order a drink or two with dinner or drink a glass of wine while listening to Jazz at a club. We...and by we, I mean the mature people on the ship...have a few drinks and just talk, and it has become really normal. My mom asked us if we'd been carded yet, and I almost didn't know what she was talking about. I don't even carry my ID around with me because no one asks. It's just the culture here to casually drink, and I've got to say- I really like it. I am not going to want to go back to the US and be told I can't even have a glass of wine at dinner. It makes me feel like a child. We can vote, own a house, and go to war, but we can't have a beer. Kind of ridiculous, huh? Sorry about the rant, it's just something we've talked a lot about here, and anyone who knows my mom or dad knows they think the same way I do, and we've talked a lot with them about it before, so I thought they'd appreciate it.

So, continuing with Cape Town... That night, after spending 3 hours talking, laughing, and eating, we decided to check out a jazz club near the ship called The Green Dolphin. It was awesome. It was really dark except for a few candles, and there was a band playing really good jazz on stage. We all ordered a drink, passed them around the table so everyone could try them, and listened to them serenade us for over an hour. After a long day, it was nice to relax! We also got to talk to Mom twice, which was awesome! We loved hearing her voice and getting to talk and laugh with her instead of communicating through e-mail. I'm so glad we got to talk to her, especially since we probably won't get to again for a while. The next day, Thursday, we had told Kevin we'd hang out with him and Ellie (our neighbors), so we woke up, had breakfast, and headed out to find the aquarium. It was so much fun and we spent all morning and some of the afternoon there. We saw all kinds of fish I've never seen before because even though I've been to aquariums, all these fish were from the southern hemisphere. We also saw sharks, penguins, a puppet show (for Ellie), and a tank full of jellyfish (eww). While we were waiting for the penguin-feeding show, we had lunch, and it was great. Ellie decided to play a game where she'd tilt her head, expecting us to follow. So, of course, we did, and she'd tilt it the other way and we'd follow along. Well, Kevin got a picture of us with both of our heads tilted to the side, and it was hilarious. Ellie definitely looked a lot cuter doing it than we did...we probably just looked stupid. haha. But she got a kick out of it, so it was worth it. There was a play-place next to the cafeteria, so Ellie and I went to play and it was a lot of fun. Whenever Kate and I would switch, Kevin and I got to talking, and we basically told our life stories. It was great to just sit and talk to him because we'd been so preoccupied with Ellie that we hadn't really just talked. So it was a lot of fun. We finally got to see the penguins being fed, which was funny to watch. I love penguins!! They're so cute! Ellie was ready for a nap after that, so we headed back to the ship. It was so sad because she had a meltdown when she finally realized Amy was gone (she went on a safari for 3 days) and kept calling for her. Sleeping helped, though, and we all napped for a while. That night, we were supposed to babysit while Kevin went to a rugby match, but he didn't end up going, and we hadn't made any plans with anyone because we thought we'd be sitting, so the four of us went to dinner. This was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. We all ate and, as we were sitting there, Ellie did NOT want to sit still, so I offered to walk around with her. This turned into an hour of me carrying her around/chasing her/going up and down the stairs with her. It was so much fun, and we were just hanging out together. We also found a band that was playing African music, so we danced around to that, which was so cute! She was really adorable (not like she ever isn't...) and I was so glad I got to hang out with her. After dinner, Kate and I went out to the Green Dolphin again with a few people, and this time they had a different band, so it was a good time.

The next day we were supposed to climb Table Mountain with a bunch of people, but they ended up leaving too late, and we had a trip that we had to be back at noon for, so instead we tagged along with Kevin and Ellie again, who were headed into town to go to a military museum/fort. I'm so glad we went because we never would've seen it otherwise, and it was really interesting. It's an old fort that's been through many wars, and everything is open to the public to see what it was used for. We saw the old prisoner-of-war jail cells, the armory, the old governor's mansion, the museum they had set up all about the wars that had happened, and much more. They even had a changing of the guards ceremony, where they set off a real cannon. It was really loud, but cool to watch. After having lunch, we headed back to the ship to leave for our trip to the township. Side note: in Cape Town, the "suburbs" are called townships, and this is where the extreme poverty and unemployment really show. Almost all of the houses there are what's called "informal structures" which are basically pieces of wood, tin, and anything else they can find, put together in a box shape. There's a huge divide between the people who have money in South Africa and those who don't, and it was definitely evident as we drove out of the city limits. The township we were going to was called Khayelitsha, and about 1.1 million people live there. As soon as we got there, it was hard not to feel extremely touristy and also sad. Here we were, in a tour bus, staring at everyone in their shacks, while we get to go back to the ship in a few hours which is basically luxury. We felt very humbled, to say the least. Our first stop was a school and a craft market. We bought a few things at the marker, talked to some of the sellers, and headed straight over to the school. The kids didn't speak English, but we interacted as best we can, and played tag, tickle wars, and hide-n-seek with them. I even taught one girl how to play patty cake. It was awesome. They were so excited to see us, to hold our hands, and above all, to take pictures with us. None of us wanted to leave, and I almost cried walking out of the school. Next, we went to a bed and breakfast run by a woman who wanted to encourage tourism in the area so she started a B & B for foreigners so they felt safe staying in the townships (violent crimes are common in the area). This was definitely the best part! After she talked to us for a while, we walked outside and encountered about 30 kids, ages 2 to 13. Vicky, the owner of the B & B, also feeds the neighborhood children every Tuesday and Thursday, so they hang out a lot around her place. The kids immediately took our hands and taught us how to play games with them, singing and dancing. It was amazing. We joined right in, dancing and trying to sing along, and granting every request to take a picture with them. When it was time to leave, they held our hands all the way back to the bus and ran after us as we pulled away. I will never forget them and my heart hurts to know the conditions they live in and what they go through everyday. The rest of the visit was to another B & B where we had snacks, and a walking tour of Khayelitsha. It was definitely one of those lie-changing experiences, and one we couldn't have done had it not been for SAS. We love this program, and are so grateful for the cultural experiences it's given us!

After the township visit, we had dinner and went to the Green Dolphin again. This time, however, there were a bunch of SASers there after hearing about it and how good it was. At midnight, we walked back to the ship, got our computer, and went to the mall for some free internet. Then we got to talk to Dad, Kathy, and the girls on Skype for a good 45 minutes! Laura started crying, which of course made me want to cry, but it was so nice to be able to see them and talk to them "in person". Julia was crazy, as usual, making silly faces and growling at the screen, so it was a good time. We also got to check our Yahoo accounts and then we headed back to the ship for much needed sleep. Saturday, we woke up at about 0700, had breakfast, and got on a bus for our "Cycling in the Winelands" trip. Our guide, Alex, told us all about the history of the area and the plan for the day as we drove the 45 minutes out of Cape Town to Stellenbosch. As soon as we arrived, we were given bikes and helmets, and we started biking. It was brutal! We are pretty good bikers, and we're in good shape, but it was extremely tough. We pretty much thought we were going to either fall over or our legs were going to fall off. It was on dirt roads, uphill, in the South African heat. It was so intense, and we cycled for about 10 km. It was absolutely gorgeous, though, the entire ride, so that was a nice bonus. It reminded us a lot of the countryside in Spain, and we took tons of pictures! When we finally got to paved roads and everyone else was way ahead of us, Kate and definitely started singing Sound of Music songs and taking our sweet time. It was a blast! It was a lot like when we used to ride our bikes through the metroparks, and we had tons of fun! We finally made it to the winery, called Lanzerac, where we had a delicious wine-tasting session. We tasted about 5 different wines- 2 white, a rose, and 2 red. My favorites were the shiraz and the rose. It was really cool and we all had a good time, and then they made us lunch, too! After lunch, we went on a tour of the winery and learned how they make different wines and the history of this particular winery. Then we drove to a second winery, seeing beautiful scenery along the way, and tasted more wine. This time, there were 8 different wines, and these were all blended wines, which were excellent. After 13 half-glasses of wine, we were all feeling pretty good, and we looked around the museum and headed home. It was a great experience, and we loved every minute of it- even when we thought we weren't gonna make it. haha. We also took some amazing pictures of the mountains and wineries.

Today, we were supposed to go cliff jumping, but decided against it because we had so much to do, and we'd be gone from 0600 until 1600, right before on-ship time, so we didn't go. Instead, we got up early, had breakfast, and went with the twins, Pat, and Blair to a cafe called Melissa's where we had the most decadent and delicious hot chocolate ever. They spread nutella around the glass and then poured the hot chocolate into it. It was soooo good!! Then we took a cab to Table Mountain and waited in line for the cable car. After about 45 minutes, we finally got to go up, and it was SO scary! The top of the mountain is about 1,067 meters high (over 3,000 ft), and the cable car goes straight up the side of the mountain. Inside the car, you're standing, and the floor rotates around in a circle, which is a very strange experience. You probably have to do it to understand, but it was very scary. I hate heights, and Victoria and I were both clutching Kate in a death grip as she laughed at us and got the best pictures of the mountain and the town below. When we made it to the top, it was really windy, and by really, I mean so windy that our eyes watered. It was also very, very, very cold. We quickly snapped a few pictures, looked around at the amazing and picturesque for about 15 minutes, and headed back down. On the way down, these two older men were standing next to us and were amazed by the fact that the four of us were twins. They asked if they could take a picture, and asked us all sorts of questions about that and, once they found out while we were there, about SAS. They were from upstate New York, and a few minutes later, a Canadian couple joined in and we had a fun ride down! I love meeting new people! After Table Mountain, we went to the Green Square Market, had lunch, and then took a cab back to the waterfront. We did some last-minute shopping, bought some postcards and stamps, and had one last gelato cone before walking, very somberly, back to the ship. No one wanted to get back on, and it was so sad to walk up the gangway for the last time and leave this amazing city! We know that we will definitely be back some day soon because we fell in love with the people, culture, food...basically everything! We can't wait to show you pictures of our time here!

We are still sitting in port and it's about 2245, which makes it even worse because we can't get off but have to sit and look at it. I'm almost thankful for the delay, though, because I am not looking forward to the rough seas ahead. Or the homework. Back to the real world. haha. I hope you all enjoyed hearing about wonderful, beautiful, amazing Cape Town and that everything is going well for you back in the states!! Hopefully it's starting to warm up a little! We miss and love you all! We'll keep you updated on the journey to Mauritius.

Talk to you soon!!

xoxo

Kate and Sarah